Mon. evening Mar. 30
Opening response
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O LORD!
Let your ways be known on earth,
and your salvation among the nations.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Lord God of our salvation, to you be glory and praise forever. As we behold your Son, enthroned on the cross, stir up in us the fire of your love, that we may be cleansed from all our sins, and walk with you in newness of life, singing the praise of him who died for us and our salvation.
Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.
That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful, let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As our evening prayer rises before you, O God, so may your mercy come down upon us to cleanse our hearts and set us free to sing your praise now and forever.
Amen.
Hymn
The Sands of Time Are Sinking
Words: Anne R. Cousin (1857)
Music: Chrétien Urhan (1734)
Our Great Redeemer’s Praise (#622)
The sands of time are sinking;
the dawn of heaven breaks;
the summer morn I've sighed for,
the fair sweet morn awakes;
dark, dark has been the midnight,
but dayspring is at hand,
and glory, glory dwelleth
in Emmanuel's land.
O Christ, He is the fountain,
the deep, sweet well of love!
The streams on earth I've tasted;
more deep I'll drink above:
there to an ocean fullness
His mercy doth expand,
and glory, glory dwelleth
in Emmanuel's land.
The bride eyes not her garment,
but her dear bridegroom's face;
I will not gaze at glory,
but on my King of grace;
not at the crown He giveth,
but on His pierced hands;
the Lamb is all the glory
of Emmanuel's land.
Confession of Sin
Let us admit to God the sin which always confronts us.
A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.
Almighty God, patient and of great goodness: I confess to you, I confess with my whole heart my neglect and forgetfulness of your commandments, my wrong doing, thinking, and speaking; the hurts I have done to others, and the good I have left undone. O God, forgive me, for I have sinned against you; and raise me to newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
May the God of love and power forgive us and free us from our sins, heal and strengthen us by his Spirit, and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Psalm 25
𝙍: Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness.
To You, O LORD,
I lift up my soul.
O my God, I trust in You;
let me not be ashamed;
let not my enemies triumph over me.
Let no one who waits on You
be ashamed;
let them be ashamed
who transgress without cause.
Show me Your ways, O LORD;
teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
for You are the God of my salvation;
on You I wait all day long.
Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness,
for they are from of old.
𝙍: Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness.
Do not remember the sins of my youth
or my transgressions;
according to Your lovingkindness remember me,
for Your goodness’ sake, O LORD.
Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in justice,
and teaches the humble His way.
All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth,
for those who keep His covenant and His decrees.
𝙍: Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness.
For Your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my iniquity,
for it is great.
Who is the man who fears the LORD?
He will teach him the way that he should choose.
He will dwell at ease,
and his descendants will inherit the land.
The secret counsel of the LORD is with those who fear Him,
and He will make His covenant known to them.
My eyes are ever toward the LORD,
for He will pluck my feet out of the net.
𝙍: Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness.
Turn to me, and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart have increased;
bring me out of my distresses.
Look on my affliction and my pain,
and forgive all my sins.
Consider my enemies, for they are many,
and with what violent hatred they hate.
Guard my soul, and deliver me;
do not let me suffer shame,
for I take refuge in You.
Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for You.
Redeem Israel, O God,
out of all its troubles.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be forever. Amen.
𝙍: Remember, O LORD, Your mercies and Your lovingkindness.
Psalm prayer
Free us, God of mercy, from all that keeps us from you; relieve the misery of the anxious and the ashamed and fill us with the hope of peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Lamentations 2:8-19
The LORD has purposed to destroy
the wall of the daughter of Zion.
He has stretched out a line;
He has not withdrawn His hand from destroying;
therefore He caused the rampart and the wall to lament;
they languished together.
Her gates have sunk into the ground;
He has destroyed and broken her bars.
Her king and her princes are among the nations;
the Law is no more,
and her prophets find
no vision from the LORD.
The elders of the daughter of Zion
sit on the ground in silence;
they throw dust on their heads
and gird themselves with sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem
bow their heads to the ground.
My eyes fail with tears,
my spirit is greatly troubled;
my bile is poured on the ground
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
because the children and infants faint
in the streets of the city.
They say to their mothers,
“Where is grain and wine?”
when they faint like a wounded man
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers’ bosom.
What can I say for you,
to what shall I liken you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I compare with you,
that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your devastation is great like the sea;
who can heal you?
Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
they have not revealed your iniquity,
to bring back your captives,
but have seen for you oracles
that are false and misleading.
All who pass by
clap their hands at you;
they hiss and shake their heads
at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying,
“Is this the city that men call
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of the whole earth?”
All your enemies
have opened their mouth against you;
they hiss and gnash their teeth.
They say, “We have swallowed her up!
Certainly this is the day that we longed for;
we have found it; we have seen it.”
The LORD has done what He planned;
He has fulfilled His word
that He had commanded in the days of old.
He has thrown down and has not pitied,
and He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you;
He has exalted the power of your adversaries.
Their heart cried to the LORD:
O wall of the daughter of Zion,
let your tears run down
like a river day and night;
give yourself no rest,
your eyes no respite!
Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the watches;
pour out your heart like water
before the face of the LORD.
Lift your hands to Him
for the lives of your young children,
who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Colossians 1:18-23
He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell, and to reconcile all things to Himself by Him, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him, I say—whether they are things in earth, or things in heaven.
And you, who were formerly alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight, if you continue in the faith, established and firm, and are not removed from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Silence may be kept.
The Magnificat (The Song of Mary)
Luke 1:46-55
My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded
the low estate of His servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is His name.
His mercy is on those who fear Him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has pulled down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
in remembrance of His mercy,
as He spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be forever. Amen.
Brief silence.
The Apostle’s Creed
Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:
I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the
right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge
the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
Thanksgiving and intercession
Thanksgiving may be made for the day.
Intercessions are offered
for peace
for individuals and their needs
Prayers may include the following concerns:
The persecuted Church
The oppressed peoples of the world
All who are lonely
All who are near death
All who are facing loss
Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.
Response
God of grace,
hear our prayer.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
Almighty and everlasting God, who in your tender love toward the human race sent your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross: grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Standing at the foot of the cross, as our Savior taught us, so we pray
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.
Conclusion
May Christ, who bore our sins on the cross, set us free to serve him with joy.
Amen.